CIAC member, NOVA Chemicals, has announced a three-year investment of nearly $2 million to support a new global initiative to reduce marine plastic pollution in Southeast Asia called Project STOP.

The initiative’s goal is to design, implement and scale circular economy solutions to marine plastic pollution in countries with high leakage of plastics into oceans. NOVA Chemicals’ investment will support the first city partnership in Muncar, a coastal fishing community located in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. With minimal waste services in place, many citizens are forced to dump their waste directly into the environment.

As a member of Responsible Care®, CIAC’s U.N.-recognized sustainability initiative, NOVA Chemicals has long worked towards safe, responsible and sustainable chemical manufacturing.

“Our investment in Project STOP demonstrates our unwavering commitment to shaping a world that is even better tomorrow than it is today. We understand that part of this commitment to being ‘better tomorrow’ is our commitment to Responsible Care and Sustainability,” said John Thayer, Senior Vice President, Polyethylene Business at NOVA Chemicals.

“NOVA Chemicals has a long history of respecting our employees, communities and the environment. We are a founding member of Responsible Care and are deeply committed to the industry’s ideals of sustainability.”

CIAC is working with its members and partners, like NOVA, to reduce plastic waste and support the circular economy. In June, partnering with the Canadian Plastics Industry Association, CIAC and its members committed to set ambitious targets to reuse, recycle or recover 100 per cent of plastics packaging by 2040.

The competitiveness of Canada’s petrochemical sector was on the agenda for the federal, provincial, and territorial energy and mining ministers gathered at the Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference in Iqaluit August 12-14.

Notably, the Gas Processing Management Inc. (GPMi) shared a report surveying the competitiveness landscape for Canada’s petrochemical industry when compared to the U.S. It identified policies and programs that best support future development of this industry in Canada, echoing many of CIAC’s similar findings, and providing further support for the federal government to move on policy actions to mitigate against U.S. tax reform impacts eroding investment competitiveness in Canada, such as the accelerated capital cost allowance.

Isabelle Des Chênes, CIAC Executive Vice-President, and Shannon Watt, Director of Environment and Health Policy, appeared before the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources on May 3, 2018. Senators are conducting a pre-study of the provisions of Bill C-74, the budget implementation bill, that deal with the government’s plan to price greenhouse gas emissions.

CIAC and its members support efforts to reduce global carbon emissions and have worked collaboratively with both provincial and federal officials to ensure that carbon policies and pricing mechanisms improve environmental performance, avoid double-regulation and maintain Canada’s competitiveness.

Ms. Des Chênes noted that “Canada should support a carbon policy that recognizes emission-intensive, trade-exposed sectors and encourages investments in the Canadian chemistry sector. Additionally, given the incredible investments in innovations and technologies to improve performance around air emissions and climate change, Canada’s proposed output-based allocation process should focus on benchmarking Canadian chemistry operations and performance against global competitors.”

Additionally, Ms. Watt reinforced the point that government needs to provide a comprehensive analysis of the cumulative impacts of the suite of climate change policies including the proposed Clean Fuel Standard.

The topic of the seminar panel was Heavy Industry is Necessary in Canada’s Low Carbon Future. Speakers touched ontopics such as the Paris Accord, the Pan-Canadian Framework, as well as near-term and long-term targets.

“Demand for chemistry products are forecast to triple in the next 20 years. And it isn’t hard to see why: the products our members make enable our modern, more sustainable way of life,” Mr. Masterson told the crowd.

“We all need sound policies from our government that encourage growth while meeting the needs of our global commitments to sustainability. The world truly needs more good chemistry – made-in-Canada chemistry – to meet our low-carbon goals.”

The invitation only, two-day event included key natural gas stakeholders including users, pipelines and utilities, marketers, regulators and policy makers. Other participants in the panel discussion included the Mining Association of Canada, the Forest Products Association of Canada and the Canadian Steel Producers Association.

Please join Shannon Watt, CIAC Director of Environment and Health Policy, on May 1 for what promises to be a lively discussion on the growing business of clean tech in Canada.

From building insulation and lighter plastics for vehicles, to solar panels and wind turbines, the products that will help move society to a more sustainable future need chemistry. Canada must fully develop the potential of its chemistry industry so it can deliver solutions to reduce emissions both within the industry, throughout Canada and around the world.

https://canadianchemistry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CIAC-Logo.png00Shannon Watthttps://canadianchemistry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CIAC-Logo.pngShannon Watt2018-04-26 12:35:042018-07-03 12:38:57Learn about chemistry’s role in clean tech and the low-carbon economy at the Sixth Estate

More than 100 emergency responders and agencies gathered this past September in Stratford, Ontario for a series of training sessions on dangerous goods hosted by TRANSCAER®. The event featured three one-day training sessions at Perth County Paramedic Services’ headquarters and educated emergency responder staff, municipal officials and industry personnel on the best approaches for handling transportation incidents involving dangerous goods.

Joseph Caponio, Manager, Transportation Services, ERCO Worldwide, as well as the Chair of the Ontario Regional TRANSCAER® Committee, said the goal of the event was to give first responders information about the dangerous goods that may be travelling through their communities through various modes of transportation, including by rail.

Caponio collaborated with Dave Colvin, Emergency Management Coordinator for Perth County, after Colvin reached out to TRANSCAER® to plan the event because of his previous awareness of how the program works.

Colvin said he started working with TRANSCAER® over five years ago. With this event, he “really wanted to bring transportation emergency response to the attention of key municipal decision makers.”

“In Perth County, we only have awareness level training for hazmat in our fire departments. It is also important that paramedics, police, and public works have an overview of some of the products going through our region,” Colvin added.

“These chemicals are typically ones that not only go through their community, but are of heightened concern,” Caponio said.

This outreach event combined both classroom and hands-on learning opportunities. Industry experts from Transport Canada, Goderich-Exeter Railway (GEXR) and Shell Canada, among others, presented a variety of lessons to attendees in a classroom setting. Topics included first responder strategies for dangerous goods incidents and Emergency Response Assistance Plans (ERAPs).

Outdoor portions of the event included a review of the construction, safety and design of cargo tank trucks as well as emergency response and spill contractor equipment.

https://canadianchemistry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CIAC-Logo.png00Julie Fortierhttps://canadianchemistry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/CIAC-Logo.pngJulie Fortier2017-11-29 08:48:342018-06-22 13:35:32TRANSCAER® and Perth County Paramedic Services team up to deliver safety training to first responders

Brief explanation/description of the practice.
Reviewed options to remedy and decided on a better roofing material, that did not absorb heat (white membrane) and installed skylights in areas of the warehouse that would benefit from day light instead of lighting fixtures.

Resources used to implement this practice
Internal H&S Manager to set up hierarchy, management team to assess recognition categories, external resource of “CSI international” to provide a platform for recognition and redemption of various items.

Outcomes of the practice

Benefits of the practice.
Maintenance department and external contractors

Limitations of the practice.
Flat roofing for the white membrane
Skylights need fall restrictions placed around their perimeter.

5. Photos
a) If possible, provide images of the described practice.

b) Provide a short description of each photo.
No photo to share

6. Please send any external documents (pdf or other shareable format), that best present the best practice along with this form at lrobitaille@canadianchemistry.ca.

CIAC applauds the government’s efforts and is supportive of the rail freight measures outlined in Transportation 2030 for advancing a “long-term agenda for a more transparent, balanced and efficient rail system that reliably moves our goods to global markets.” Regarding Bill C-49, CIAC believes the government has correctly identified the key areas requiring attention to address issues of transparency, fair access, efficiency and long-term investment and is supportive of the expedited approach being taken to address them. However, there are several areas that would benefit from amendments to better align with the stated intent of the proposed measures.

In our detailed review of the legislation we have identified several key areas where we believe amendments are warranted to meet the stated intent of the measures. The requested amendments are summarized here:

Data Transparency and Timeliness – Parallel the U.S. reporting requirements/timelines and expedite the availability of information accessible to shippers, ensuring it is also commodity specific.

Canadian Transportation Agency Powers and Informal Resolutions Processes – Increase the Agency’s power to investigate issues and ensure informal resolutions are implemented, effective and that policy makers and stakeholders are able to see broader trends in the system.

Adequate and Suitable Service – Amend legal text to ensure railways are required to provide the highest level of service they can reasonably provide.

Captivity and Long-Haul Interswitching (LHI) – Eliminate the prerequisites for using LHI as well as many of the exclusions (such as toxic inhalation products, radioactives, and certain corridors) and allow the Agency to maintain the ability to extend interswitching beyond the 30 km limit by regulation for all shippers.

On September 13th, CIAC will appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport and Infrastructure to address the requested amendments. CIAC’s submission to the committee can be found here. CIAC looks forward to working collaboratively with Transport Canada, and the Canadian Transportation Agency to meet the intent of the legislation, support opportunities for growth in the economy, and ensure the chemistry sector’s competitiveness in Canada.